BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has signed an agreement with North Dakota's Department of Human Services to boost child support enforcement on the reservation.
The tribe's child support program is beginning its third year, with 10 full-time staff members serving about 300 children and 235 parents. The program expects to assume responsibility of additional cases that the state is currently handling, and both the tribe and state will work together on other cases.
Tribal Child Support Director Jerl Thompson says the agreement will help ensure that reservation children "receive the involvement and resources of both their parents emotionally and financially."
State Child Support Director Jim Fleming says the agreement has been in the works for more than two years. He says, "We serve children best by working together."